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Average response time to vital record requests (days)
Preserve and provide access to historical and contemporary New York City government records. — Promptly reply to information and reproduction service requests.
The average time to respond to a vital record request fell sharply through fiscal 2024 (to 6.9 days) as DORIS's online Historical Vital Records platform let most customers get copies without submitting a staff-processed request. It then rose again in fiscal 2025 (to 12.9 days) after a staff member in the vital-records unit was temporarily moved to cover an administrative vacancy; DORIS expected the reassigned worker to return in fiscal 2026, and response time did improve back to 10.7 days that year.
Researched July 15, 2026 — DORIS, Fiscal 2024 Mayor's Management Report, DORIS, Fiscal 2025 Mayor's Management Report
* Year to date — this fiscal year isn't complete, so it's not compared against prior years in the target/trend status above.
View as table
| Fiscal year | Actual | Target |
|---|---|---|
| FY22 | 24.8 days | 12 days |
| FY23 | 10.7 days | 12 days |
| FY24 | 6.9 days | 10 days |
| FY25 | 12.9 days | 10 days |
| FY26 (YTD) | 10.7 days | 10 days |
Why this is tracked
The push for a central city archive dates to 1939, when Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia's Municipal Archives Committee, led by librarian Rebecca Rankin, proposed consolidating city records into one properly maintained facility. DORIS itself was formally established in 1977 and now operates the Municipal Archives, Municipal Library, and Records Center. The Municipal Archives alone holds over 200,000 cubic feet of original documents, photographs, ledgers, maps, and moving images documenting New York City's government and history, material that would otherwise be vulnerable to loss, damage, or simply becoming inaccessible to researchers, journalists, and the public.
NYC Department of Records - About, Municipal Archives - the Institutional History, New York City Department of Records and Information Services - Wikipedia
Source: Municipal Archives Division — via NYC Open Data: Mayor's Management Report, Agency Performance Indicators
Coverage shown: FY22–FY26, reported monthly.
Definition: The average time it took the Department to conduct a record search and send the search results (either a certified copy of the record or a “not found” statement) to the customer.